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The model of counterpoint

improvisation and the methods of

improvisation in popular music

Avant : pismo awangardy filozoficzno-naukowej 4/1, 417-454

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417 AVANT, Vol. IV, No. 1/2013 ISSN: 2082-6710 avant.edu.pl DOI: 10.12849/40102013.0106.0022

The model of counterpoint improvisation

and the methods of improvisation

in popular music

Adam Fulara

Department of Mathematics & Computer Science (graduate), University of Wrocław Master Class, European Tap Seminar, Belgium

foolx[]onet.pl

Received 15 April 2012; accepted 14 October 2012; published 30 June 2013. translation: Ewa Bodal and Adam Fulara

Abstract

The article consists of two parts. The first, more general, contains a descrip-tion of the phenomena associated with improvisadescrip-tion, especially guitar, detail-ing the execution issues facdetail-ing the improviser. Two points of view are pre-sented: the first, more detailed, describes the elements of music and its im-portance in the process of improvisation, the second - more general - speaks of phenomena which cannot be described or analyzed in a simple way, or that are different for each track. These include the interaction between team members, expressing emotions through music and research problem of searching for one's own voice in art. Moreover, this section contains a descrip-tion of three very different approaches to guitar improvisadescrip-tion. The first is the use of a tonal center (enriched with dominant tensions); the second method (used in fusion music) is to combine the harmony of the composition with relevant scales; the third (typical for bebop music) is based on the strict use of improvised chord sounds without the use of scales. The second section of the text provides a description of a specific type of polyphonic improvisation with the use of two-handed tapping on the guitar. This model stands in contrast to the three previously described ways of understanding guitar improvisation. The system is based on methods used in both the Renaissance and Baroque polyphony (among others in the leading Cantus Firmus melody or the coun-terpoint rules) as well as on assumptions of one voice bebop improvisation (the use of leading sound solutions specific to natural foursounds). This de-scription refers back to the first part of the article, grouping issues around the individual elements of a musical work. This section contains notes and obser-vations collected during the eight years the author spent searching for his own musical way.

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418

There are two musical examples in the article:

http://fulara.com/temp/artykul/earth_song_-_1_take.mp3 (improvisation with theme)

http://fulara.com/temp/artykul/earth_song_-_2_take.mp3 (improvisation without theme)

Keywords: improvisation; polyphony; music; guitar; two-handed tapping.

Part I. Elements of music and the models of improvisation

Improvising means creating a musical composition, or a part thereof, without preparation. It has accompanied music for centuries. However, until the first recordings appeared, it fulfilled a different function. It is known that J. S. Bach improvised, as did other great musicians, among others, F. Chopin, F. Liszt, N. Paganini. Unfortunately, it is only the audience’s accounts that are left after these improvisations. The situation changed exponentially with the arrival of the possibility of registering sound on analogue devices.

In the 20th century, improvisation became an inherent element of jazz. It has frequently been compared to language or speech (Wise 1983; Wooten 2008; Henderson 1992). Letters are like sounds, words like motifs, sentences are phrases, etc.

Improvisation is the art of conscious re-organisation. It does not consist in playing combinations of sounds, fragments of which have never been played before by anyone else, and especially the performer. Similarly, storytelling in some language does not consist in inventing new words. We put stories to-gether from words known well enough that they do not need to be thought about. In a comparable manner, an improviser uses words (licks, phrases) which he or she knows perfectly. I will refer to this analogy numerous times. Improvisation does not consist in a constant change of melodic and rhythmic motifs, either, and a large degree of repetitiveness of certain features of the phrase and continuing the melodic thought are its important factors (Hender-son 1992). This rule is similar to the method of building a musical form with the use of motivic work.

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419 Models of improvisation according to the choice of sonic material

In order to better understand the process of improvising, we will trace various methods of improvising utilized by guitarists.

The basic method of improvisation is to determine the key of the piece, and, subsequently, to match a scale to this key. We talk about playing the piece on a scale. Initially, it is usually pentatonic minor scale (1, minor 3rd , 4th , 5th , minor 7th), frequently used in one position.

Pentatonic minor scale – position I

On the basis of this sound system, the basic rules of improvisation can be learnt relatively fast. In the music deriving from blues (different varieties of blues, blues-rock), the pentatonic minor scale can be used to play pieces in the major key (e.g. AC/DC’s “You shook me all night long”).

Another step in learning improvisation is learning the pentatonic major scale, which is the second mode of the pentatonic minor scale. Subsequently, one learns the particular scale, usually beginning with the seven modes of the natural minor scale, and then, in sequence, the harmonic minor scale, and sometimes the melodic minor scale, as well as the other scales, which are known as “exotic” ones. This is how the first years of learning how to impro-vise usually pass.

This method of approaching music has one fundamental downside. The course/progress of the piece plays a secondary function here, and so do the apportionment of the tensions, progressions and harmonic changes. That is, the improviser utilizing this method pretends that the piece is “standing still” on a tonal chord. When it comes to choosing sounds, the musicians usually rely on their own hearing, which may be unreliable, especially within the first few years of studying. There are, obviously, exceptions. What is interesting is that one can achieve quite considerable technical proficiency utilizing only this method. We talk then about the phenomenon of shredding; in this context the word has negative connotations.

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In other words, the first, basic approach to improvising according to the choice of sounds is finding the key, and, subsequently, using the selected scale (or scales). This method has one fundamental drawback: one can only play pieces with one tonal centre in this way.

It is much more advanced to improvise to pieces which contain modulations (e.g. Kenny Dorham’s “Blue Bossa”), which today are used even in pop music. The utilisation of a single scale while improvising in such pieces sounds very bad, and it forces the improviser to watch the places of modulation, which causes numerous difficulties to beginner musicians (especially when there is more than one key).

There is one disadvantage to this type of improvising: in the long run it soon becomes boring to the audience. Another step which can offset this phenome-non to a large degree is adding the so-called dominant substitutes to the basic scale. Every tonal centre, or even every chord of the piece, possesses its own dominant, that is, a dominant seventh chord , built a perfect fifth higher. This fact is utilized when creating a series of tensions and releases both in compo-sition, and in improvisation. In other words, two modulations are added – a switch to the mode of a dominant, and releasing the created tensions by a switch to the tonic scale. However, this phenomenon is different from a typ-ical modulation. In the tension mode one cannot end phrases (only in certain particular circumstances can such an ending sound well). Obviously, this re-quires a good pitch, sense, and knowledge regarding the methods of releasing tensions, as well as dominant substitutes. The same technique it utilised in practically every tonal piece of music: from simple folklore songs to Bach’s complex polyphonic fugues. The improvised tensions can, but do not have to, overlap with harmonic tensions. Such a system is already sufficient for play-ing an improvisation interestplay-ing with regard to the choice of sonic material. It is not, however, the only method for improvising.

It can be said that all those methods, from using pentatonics to modal scales to tracing modulation and using substitutes of dominants, are the successive steps of the same cohesive model of improvisation, which here for our needs we call the model of the tonal centre.

In the following part of the text in the examples given I use the American no-tation of sounds names: ABCDEFG; instead of the German H, there is B, and instead of B, there is Bb.

In the textbooks of fusion music (Misiak 1996; Henderson 1988) one can fre-quently come across a slightly different model of improvisation. It consists in following the harmony of the piece, and, subsequently, ascribing every model with the appropriate scale. And thus, the subsequent chords of the II V I pro-gression in C-Major:

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421 are played with scales:

- Dm7: Dorian, Aeolian, Phrygian, etc.

- G7 - Mixolydian, major Phrygian, dominant pentatonics, etc. - Cmaj7 - Ionic, Lydian, major pentatonics, etc.

The condition of a scale’s belonging to the given chord is that the chord should be completely contained within the given scale; however, there are exceptions to this rule. For instance, the major pentatonics C (C, D, E, G, A) does not contain all components of Cmaj7 (C, E, G, B) - it lacks the B note (a sensitive artist can correct this attribute by changing A into B in major penta-tonics). Since there are several such scales, an improviser decides which of them to choose, based on their hearing. Sometimes more scales can be com-bined, which happens frequently if a chord lasts a longer time (e.g. for several measures ).

Using the Lydian scale instead of the Ionian one is a frequently described sub-stitute. One talks then about colours which reflect two different scales describ-ing the same chord. For example, the Lydian scale is “colour #4” (of an sharp fourth), and the Ionian one has a regular fourth in this place. Another fre-quently utilised example is the usage of the Mixolydian #4 scale (e.g. for G7 this scale is G, A, B, C#, D, E, F, G) instead of the Mixolydian one (for G the scale is G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G).

It is a difficult method of improvising, which requires a large and good knowledge of the scales (in contrast to the first method described herein). Large problems are then caused by motivic work, and by the places of chang-ing scales occurrchang-ing with the subsequent chords. If a phrase does not end in such a place, short junctions sound well, for example, through sounds com-mon for both modes, or short junction routes (whole tone or semitone). The third method of improvising is mainly based on the harmony of the piece. We use the sounds of the chords, as well as passing notes (which are located between the chord sounds) to play the progression of these chords. In order to improvise in this manner we do not have to know any scale. The popularity of this direction of improvisation was initiated by Charlie Parker together with other pioneers of bebop. At present, this kind of improvising is the foundation of improvised jazz. Chord notes fill the strong parts of a tact (when one is improvising e.g. with eights, it is “one, two, three, four”), and the remaining notes are transitional notes, which are frequently accented. Obvi-ously, this kind of improvising can also be played by the means of scales. There have even been developed special 8-grade bebop scales, whose property is that when subsequent sounds of this scale are played with eights, chord notes are hit on the strong parts of the chord. Chromatics plays a substantial role in this kind of improvising. Some musicians use special “systems” of

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provising deriving from this tradition, for example, the system of chromatics. However, all these methods come down to the same model of improvisation characterized by components of the chords in the strong part of the tact. The improvisers using this system usually utilize equal rhythmical lengths (swing-ing eights or sixteens), and melodic motifs are not the most important. One also practises frequently phrases that play the entire progressions (II V I, III VI II V I), especially if the chords change at a rapid pace. In this method of im-provisation, the role of tensions created by the dominant chords and their components is also substantial. Jazz is the music of individuality - almost eve-ry prominent musician has worked out their own system of improvising that serves the same purpose - playing the sounds of subsequent chords.

These three systems of improvising and choosing sound material are the most popular ones at the moment. Hundreds of manuals have been written on the subject, devoted to the so-called pictorial notion of improvisation - the study of scales and chords, as Wooten (2007) calls it. Much more can be written about the sonic material, but, after all, it is not only the choice of sounds that is im-portant during improvisation.

Elements of music

There are several elements of music; frequently, it is the following that are named (Śledziński 1982):

 melody - sets the sequence of sounds of different pitch and different period of duration

 rhythm - organizes the sonic material in time

 dynamics - regulates the intensity of the sound

 agogics (tempo) - determines the speed of performing the piece

 harmony - organizes the consonance of sounds within a piece

 timbre - determines the colour of the sound

 form - organizes the structure of a piece.

In improvising these notions are too general and the authors of works devoted to improvisation usually provide many more of them (among others, Wooten 2008); for instance, time is closely connected with rhythm. However, it is pos-sible to improvise using only the basic, strict, metronomic kind of time. This is why isolating particular elements is so important. Another example is the notion of articulation, which can be described on at least two different levels: talking about articulation for a group of sounds (e.g. staccato, legato, portato), or a single sound which is, most often, the end of the phrase, or an accented sound (the so-called articulative accent). In the latter case, we talk about

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vari-423 ous manipulations which can be done on a single sound, e.g. vibration, pulling a string/ chord, glissando, modulation of the amplitude, etc.

When learning improvisation, it is worth practising all the possible musical aspects thereof, since this results in much more musical, valuable effects. In my educational practice I have distinguished 15 musical elements of improvi-sations:

 rhythm (the lengths of subsequent notes and pauses)

 time (the situation of sounds against the metronomic points)

 meter

 tempo

 melics, melodics (the location of the heights of the sounds, sonic mate-rial, scales)

 dynamics (changes in the intensity of sound)

 articulation (the way of extracting the sound for groups of sounds and for a single sound)

 harmony (chord consonance)

 colour (timbre)

 phrasing

 form

 accentuating (connected with rhythm, dynamics and phrasing)

 agogics (as the proportion of the amount of notes to the tempo of the piece)

 texture

 interpretation (the way of operating and connecting elements of music by the performer)

Within each of these elements, one may develop their own style of playing (Henderson 1992, Wooten 2008). We can talk here about fifteen axes of devel-opment, along which we mark our subsequent milestones. For instance, with accentuating at the beginning, we do not learn how to accentuate at all, then we learn various kinds of accents (e.g. dynamic, articulative, agogic, tonal), and various intensities of accents - the so-called strong and weak accents (Bliz-iński 1983).

In the process of learning improvisation one can very frequently encounter abandonment of development of several of these fields; we often talk then colloquially about the performer’s lack of musicality. For instance, guitarists

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utilising very distorted timbre have problems with achieving dynamics. One can then help oneself with additional effects to supplement these deficiencies (e.g. a volume pedal), but this is usually not paid attention to. As a result, the guitar loses its dynamic possibilities. This phenomenon is far from new. There are several instruments known in the history of music that lack dynamics, for example, the harpsichord, which owes to the lack of these capabilities its de-cline as a concert instrument in favour of the more dynamic piano. The im-portance of dynamics may be underscored for instance by the fact that in the times before the piano existed J. S. Bach preferred the diminutive clavichord to the resonant harpsichord, precisely due to the former’s dynamic and articu-lative capabilities. Unfortunately, this instrument was too quiet and, thus, concerts with its use could only be performed in small rooms (Schweitzer 1963).

Achieving the effect of immediacy is another issue. At first, both a harpsichord and a strongly distorted guitar sound good, but a steady intensity of the sound quickly tires the listener (Rieger 2007). This is also the reason why the record-ings of classical and jazz music are not appropriate for such strong compres-sion as the recordings of pop and rock music.

Learning how to accentuate, similarly to the study of each of these 15 ments, takes place more or less consciously. The lack of interest in this ele-ment of music leads to very schematic playing and is limited to several easy so-called “patents” (repeated schemata), which, in turn, result in a shallow-ness of the audience’s impressions. Interestingly, it is frequently the musicians without musical education who pay more attention to this issue than the stu-dents of musical schools, due to the inner need for developing one’s abilities in many directions at once, the need to “listen in” to one’s sounds and to pon-der over them. Musical schools frequently put too much emphasis on the study of harmony, rhythm, and melics, demoting other elements of a musical piece to the margins, while the students often do not feel that inner need to reach them on their own, relying on the schemata they have learned (Wooten 2008). Already in 1960 Skołyszewski wrote about this issue: he recommended practising various elements of a musical piece at once. Moreover, the musical school students feel partially “exempted” from the responsibility of seeking the right solutions (using their hearing, or literature). Unfortunately, for some reason ready recipes (scales, chords, rules), given clearly in the form of school knowledge do not result in a deep understanding of the subject, but only in a very shallow usage of schemata (Holdsworth 1992). This is why it is recom-mended to search independently for solutions to the given problems, while using book knowledge only for support. Nevertheless, theoretical rules are a treasury of knowledge and they should be used as often as possible.

It seems that the rule of a golden mean works here: balancing the elements of music, seeking a right proportion between them and learning as many of

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425 them as possible in a systematic manner (Wooten 2008). It is, thus, a good idea to listen carefully to recordings at all possible levels and to observe various musical phenomena, e.g. changes in dynamics. While doing so, one should not be limited to certain favourite music genres, but, rather, one should look out for sensitive, valuable musicians regardless of the types of music they per-form.

Elements of music – overview

1. Rhythm – determines the lengths of notes and pauses, as well as the

mo-ment of their starts. It is the most important elemo-ment of music; one can improvise based only on rhythm (e.g. with the use of a snare drum). In improvisation, we use various rhythms, which are sometimes connected with the kind of music that is performed. For instance, bebop is frequent-ly played with even sixteens (or eights); other rhythmical lengths appear more rarely, with the exception of phrase endings. In slower tempos, we use the effect of swinging, which has made its way into almost all musical genres. It is a rhythm that consists in performing even notes in such a way that the first of them is prolonged, while the second is shortened - and, frequently, the latter is also accented. The length of the first note is not determined unequivocally - it ranges between 50 and 75% the length of the group of two notes. Thus, the second (shorter) one is between 25 and 50% of the period the group lasts. This effect also occurs in nature - as beating of the heart. A similar rhythm can be also encountered in classi-cal pieces, for instance, Contrapunctus 2 from J. S. Bach’s Kunst der Fuge, or L. Van Beethoven’s Menuet G-major, contain this rhythm written down as a series of two notes: an eight with a period and a sixteen. Schweitzer claims that it is “ceremonial rhythm” for Bach, which appears in this form in cantatas. It suggests a certain particular mood of the music. Many in-teresting things can be said about rhythm as the most important element of improvisation. As Pat Metheny writes on his website, “To me, rhythm and what you do with it is everything.” In his manual Melodic Phrasing, Scott Henderson refers to the issue of rhythm in improvisation in a simi-lar manner. There are also many books focusing on and organizing solely the notion of rhythm in improvisation. Sylwester Laskowki published an entire manual on the subject of rhythm in improvisation in 2007.

2. Tempo is the number of metric measures (usually eights or quarter-notes)

performed within one minute (e.g. a quarter-note equal to 60 bpm in no-tation means 60 beats per minute). In the pieces of old masters one can also encounter Italian denotations of tempo constituting certain absolute borders (e.g. Allegro is a tempo ranging from 120 to 168 bpm). Musicians frequently have quite serious problems in keeping rhythm within a cer-tain tempo; in educational work we use the metronome, or a percussion

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automaton set according to measures in bpm units. There are many sto-ries about rhythmical practice with a metronome; Miles Davis writes about the issue in his autobiography (1990). There are at least two stages of playing with a metronome. The first one regards keeping the tempo with certain tolerance: we hit more or less within the rhythm, but the beats minimally miss the metronome so that two beats can be clearly heard - one of the musician, the other - of the metronome. The second stage is achieving the so-called “synchro” (from the word “synchroniza-tion”), which consists in precise practising with the metronome so that the sound of the metronome blends into one attack with the sound of the musician (the player has the impression that the metronome is “disap-pearing”). The energy of the soundwave overlaps with the attack of the player, creating a much more precise effect which sounds good for the lis-tener. In Poland, this procedure can be heard, among others, in the shows of Wojciech Pilichowski, who attaches very large importance to achieving the “synchro” effect. Three commonly committed metronomical mistakes are: playing unevenly with regards to the metronome, playing unevenly with regards to oneself (e.g. the left hand sometimes hits slower, and sometimes faster than the right one - this problem pertains especially to pianists, drummers and other musicians who use both hands to elicit sounds), and playing unevenly with regards to other members of the band. One frequently talks about “EMBEDDING” the instrument’s part. This is especially important in the case of the rhythmical session (drums, bass, rhythm guitar). Tempo is often described by the word “agogics,” which has a different primary meaning. The lack of metronomical control evidences the performer’s weak musical sensitivity.

3. Agogics is not only the tempo, but also the agility, that is the proportion of

the number of notes to the piece’s tempo. The notion was introduced by H. Riemann (Śledziński 1981). In improvisation we frequently talk about “fast” solos. Yet, a fast solo can appear in a slow piece or in a very fast one. It happens that musicians use only one favourite kind of agility, e.g. they play very fast regardless of the piece’s tempo. In the case of rock mu-sic we talk about shredding. This statement frequently, though not al-ways, evokes negative connotations. In fact, the majority of shredders have very poor technique in the scope of using the remaining elements of music, e.g. deficiencies with regards to dynamics, accenting, harmony, phrasing, form, articulation, etc., although this does not always happen. Allan Holdsworth and Frank Gambale, two true masters in utilizing the list of musical means recorded an album together, entitled “Truth in shredding,” where “truth” implicitly denotes technical mastery, not only based on a large amount of notes, but also on using other elements of mu-sic. Using simplifications is a frequent mistake of shredding. If we add other means of musical expression (dynamics, accenting, phrasing, time,

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427 harmonic junctions, etc.) to a “carefree” fast series of notes, the level of difficulty increases manifold. This phenomenon has been known for a long time (Schweitzer 1963).

4. Time. We frequently talk about shifting the part of one musician (or even

shifting the part of one hand, e.g. in the case of a pianist or a drummer) relative to the metronome on which the section of a band is based. The rhythm that is steadily beaten by the metronome (usually the function of the metronome is fulfilled by a drummer) is herein denoted as “beat.” We commonly mention playing “behind the beat” and playing “before the beat,” which means consciously shifting the entirety, or part of the rhythm forwards or backwards in time. At the same time, this shift is much shorter than the length of the notes performed.

Musicians playing “behind the beat” are encountered more frequently than those playing before it. This means of expressing emotions is still new and still provides large possibilities of experimenting with music. Al-ready in baroque harpsichord players utilized this procedure with the aim of achieving the effect of expression to compensate for the dynamic deficiencies of the harpsichord. This is how Keith Jarrett (among others) performs the Aria from J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations. In the theme of the Aria we can clearly hear that he shifts the part of the right hand backwards, doing so in a very irregular manner (some sound groups are played evenly, some “behind the beat”). At present, this procedure is used widely in vocal music, in R’n’B and hip hop. In Poland, this was used by, among others, by the group Sistars (e.g. in the song “Synu”). One also talks often about good “flow,” which is strictly connected with skilful op-erating of both this element of music, and rhythm. Time causes even the

most banal melody to start to appear attractive to the listener; it gains

new glow. This element of music is also utilized by many great improvis-ers (Metheny, Wooten, Scofield, Brecker). Advanced operations with the use of time can be also heard in Chris Dave’s productions – he is a young, very talented drummer who plays “behind the beat” with himself (imitat-ing the delay effect). This phenomenon occurs also in pull(imitat-ing the snare drum beats “behind” in time in typical pop and rock rhythms, or the oc-currence of double beat of a snare drum (the first strike is metronomic, and the second one is behind the beat), which increases the so-called groove feeling. In such a case, the entire rhythm section must be aware of a procedure of this kind, and cooperate in its creation (Królik 2011).

5. Meter of a piece - is a way of counting. In improvisation the first problem

is actually hearing the backtrack, feeling the strong part of the tact and the accented places. This is rather simple in the case of the 4/4 meter, but problems appear when improvising in odd meter (e.g. “Take Five” in 5/4). Additionally, there are problems with breaking up complex meter into

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simple groups (two or three units of length), as well as with improvising in a different distribution that the backtrack; we talk then about polyme-ters. Some procedures of this kind are utilized in the form of licks, e.g. a ⅞ phrase played on a loop in 4/4 meter. The melody of a lick is then shifted; such a procedure may also be used as way of motivic work. This proce-dure is frequently also called a polyrhythm, as it resembles a polyrhythm extended in time for several tacts. We can hear such music e.g. in King Crimson’s performances. Music courses conducted by the famous Guitar Craft taught how to play in polymeter.

6. Melody consists basically of rhythm and the pitches of the following

sounds in a sequence. The pitches on their own (without the rhythm) comprise the so-called melics. The majority of manuals on improvisation focus on the choice of sonic material utilized in the creation of melics. These manuals are frequently illustrated with certain schemata and graphs, usually sets of scales or melodically distributed chords. A com-mon mistake lies in melodic simplifications - using one scale for the entire piece without paying attention to its harmonic course, an issue that has been discussed in the first part of this article. Some musical genres, e.g. blues, allow for simplifications, as the performers seek different modes of expression there; yet, there is a large group of musicians playing within this genre who put emphasis on choosing sonic material, playing sounds connected with harmony (Henderson 1992).

7. Harmony – the course of chord consonance in a piece. It is used on many

levels in improvisation. Firstly, harmonic changes set the right sounds for improvisation. These sounds change with the chord of the piece. A strict relationship between harmony and improvisation was defined by the creators of bebop, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gilespie. They could impro-vise in stunning tempos, frequently using only chord sounds on the downbeat. For example, when playing eights they would hit the chord sounds for “one” and then every second sound would come from the chord played by the rhythm section. The remaining sounds they called “transition sounds.” This system of improvising was the foundation of sound choice in jazz improvisation (Wise 1982). In fusion music appro-priate “scales” are ascribed to chords (Misiak 1996, Henderson 1988). For instance, the major chord Cmaj7 = C, E, G, B can be played with the C-Ionian scale, or the C-Lydian scale. The systems are similar in their as-sumptions, but the created improvisations sound different.

Harmonic improvisations (played with chords) that are frequently used by pianists and jazz guitarists can also be distinguished. Joe Pass created the foundations for the entire “guitar style” based on improvising with chords. This is strictly connected with the texture of the instrument, and

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429 it requires a good knowledge of both scales and harmonies, and the rules of conducting voices (Pass 1987).

A common harmonic mistake is the lack of understanding for the voices guided in the chords and playing with “fingering” (learned via pictorial schemata) without understanding them. Such a musician has no idea what has happened to the second, and what - to the third voice between the fourth and fifth chord. Not only does he not know what components of chords there are, but also he connects them in a way that is nonmusical and sounds bad - with leaps enforced by “pictorial” learning.

Releasing tensions with the aid of substitutes of dominant chords is an en-tirely separate notion when it comes to harmony and melody. Such an at-titude, as Olszewski (2009) writes, is slightly different from the classic functional harmony. A mistake that is frequently committed by beginning improvisers is utilising a certain scale without considering the series of tensions and releases that already exist for this scale. An improvisation played this way sounds monotonous, strange and unnatural. Even the simply constructed Dorian AC/DC pieces have clear dominant tensions. Every prominent jazz musician has their own way of using dominant ten-sions (Martino 1996). Moreover, the procedure of achieving tension by the means of a dominant chord in various modal scales was already known in the Renaissance, and it was one of the procedures that influ-enced the creation of the major - minor system (Feicht 1957).

8. Texture – is a way of conducting the melodic line with the means that the

instrument gives us. A melody can be played with the sounds from a scale. We have just mentioned the style of Joe Pass, who could play the same melody with chords. Wes Montgomery often played a melody with parallel octaves. A completely different kind of texture constitutes coun-terpoint playing which consists in leading two partially independent me-lodic lines at the same time. It is also said that some musicians, for exam-ple F. Chopin, create on the basis of the texture of a certain instrument (here, a piano). This means that they utilize the entire wealth of the sound, including the pedal in such a way that a faithful musical perfor-mance of these pieces on different instruments becomes very difficult, or, frequently, impossible. J. S. Bach is a very different composer when it comes to using texture: his pieces sound great practically on every in-strument, and they are especially often performed on piano. Bach himself almost did not compose for the piano, which was still being constructed at the time, and he did not appreciate the first pianoforte constructions (Schweitzer 1963).

In improvisation one also frequently mentions texture, especially in the context of building the form of an improvisation. Artur Lesicki, a well-known Polish jazz guitarists, talk about the subject a lot during the guitar

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workshops he conducts. Thus, we talk about texture not only as a “meth-od of improvisation,” as it is in the case of Joe Pass, but also as a change in conducting texture, as a means of building tension both in the piece, and in its improvised part.

9. Timbre is one of the most overrated musical means. This effect is also

known in psychology, where it is referred to as G.A.S. (Gear Aquisition Syndrome). In short, this pertains to constant modifications of equipment, constant looking for a new timbre and spending large sums of money in order to satisfy one’s equipment needs. Obviously, a good instrument is necessary, and every musician looks for one - sometimes, throughout their entire life (Hafner 2010), but such a search should not become a mu-sical end in and of itself. Symptoms of G.A.S. are frequently displayed by musicians who have difficulties keeping up with metronomic tempo, or cannot hear if an instrument is tuned. One only needs to consider what instruments J.S. Bach, F. Chopin, or - in more recent times - Jimi Hendrix improvised on. Despite limitations of which they could not be well aware themselves, they created sounds that entered the history of music for good.

However, timbre is not just an instrument. We change the tone with the way of eliciting sound (e.g. on a guitar: with a pick, fingers, tapping, lega-to), or even the place of hitting the string with a pick or fingers (Wooten 2008). Such a procedure was the basis for, among others, John Scofield’s style of improvisation: he hits the strings very close to the bridge, which, in connection with the timbre of a bridge-type converter, results in nasal sound typical only for him. An individual, characteristic, recognizable

tone is one of the most important properties of one’s own style, and it

has a much greater value than the fact that an instrument just sounds good. Miles Davis, among others, wrote about it in his autobiography. He initially also sounded almost like Dizzie Gilespie, but it changed soon (Da-vis 1990).

It is also important that certain instruments have much greater sound possibilities than others. In guitar, the characteristic sound can be achieved even by turning the knob, and it is similar in a synthesiser. In the case of a piano this is much more difficult, but still possible. Glenn Gould, among others, could elicit an individual and very characteristic tone from the piano, and we recognize him immediately by an attack typ-ical only for him.

10. Dynamics – this element informs us about the changes in the intensity of

the sound. In this case what is important is not just whether we are play-ing a loud or a quiet sound, but also how loudness changes in time. We talk about the levels of sound intensity (forte - loud, piano - quiet, etc.), but also about the increase and decrease in the force of the sound

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(cre-431 scendo and diminuendo). Dynamic possibilities are strictly connected with the “emotionality” of the performed pieces, and through them, with the temper of the instrument. After all, they are what the piano owes its full name (pianoforte) to. Dynamics can be conducted in several man-ners. One of them consists in dynamic contrasts and dynamic changes connected with the conducted melody (romanticism). Another method is the so-called terraced dynamics, that is the inclusion of “dynamic thresh-olds” between the phrases in such a way as to make the dynamics within a given phrase stable (Schweitzer 1963). This is how the polyphonic music of the Baroque period is frequently performed. One can also work with dynamics with the use of special equipment added to instruments (cre-scendo roller, potentiometer, volume pedal). We can talk about the way of conducting dynamics by the improviser, as well as by the entire music group working together over certain dynamic manipulations.

Dynamics and the way it is operated are evidence of the improviser’s sen-sitivity to sound. Dynamics has a key meaning for classical music and jazz. Consciously conducted dynamics will be negatively influenced by all kinds of compressors that most radio stations use. Common mistakes of performers are the lack of dynamics (playing all sounds with even loud-ness, although the instrument could play quiet and loud sounds), or cha-otic dynamics (not considering the loudness of subsequent sounds and playing them at random levels of loudness). The latter mistake is a kind of a problem with musicality and hearing that frequently touches drummers and bass players (we colloquially talk about a “compressor in the paw” of the bass player).

11. Articulation is a way of eliciting sounds. We can talk about it at least on

two levels. The first one pertains to eliciting sound in a series of several sounds of the same length. We can then talk about staccato (separating individual sounds, thus shortening them by half), portato (detaching sub-sequent sounds) and legato (close connecting of sounds). The second level pertains to certain manipulations on a sound which the instrument ena-bles us to do, e.g. glissando, vibrato, tremolo. Both these levels are im-portant from the perspective of improvisation. An articulatory strategy, e.g. legato, denotes a way an improviser practises typical phrases, and manipulations on a single sound are ways of finishing (or, sometimes, be-ginning) phrases. Next to dynamics, articulation is an element that evi-dences the improviser’s level of sensitivity.

A very important issue connected with articulation is attack, that is the starting phase of each sound, which lasts a few milliseconds. A good mu-sician has a characteristic attack, which is also a crucial element of the playing style. The notions connected with attack pertain to different in-struments. Characteristic individual attacks can be observed in, among others, Glenn Gould (piano), Miles Davis (trumpet) or Steve Morse

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(gui-432

tar). Beginning musicians usually cannot hear their attack, which is why it is random and chaotic.

12. Accenting is connected with rhythm, as well as with dynamics and

articu-lation. In general, this is related to playing “important sounds,” and to whether important, emphasised sounds create some kind of logic in the course of an improvisation. And they may create e.g. rhythmical logic by establishing a constant pulse, a repeating rhythm. For instance, Victor Wooten frequently accents the final sixteen of the beat, creating a charac-teristic, flowing sound of a phrase. There are also other kinds of accents: agogical, intonational, or sound ones (Bliziński 1983). Moreover, one can accent on several levels; we talk about strong and weak accents. In im-proviser’s practice, accents should be especially trained, that is create large contrasts between accented and unaccented sounds in order to achieve right levels of accents after several months’ efforts. This pertains especially to the musicians who have never practised accenting before. A proper usage of this element of music results also in excellent effects in connection with shifting time, which increases the effect of the flow of the rhythm.

13. Phrasing is the way of connecting subsequent sounds into logical units.

We can thus create characteristic, recognizable sections of melody, which are frequently compared to the language of speech. Sounds are connected into motifs, motifs into phrases, and phrases into various kinds of sen-tences (questions, answers). The sensen-tences create the form. Appropriately phrased music sounds naturally and does not tire the listeners. Common mistakes are the lack of phrasing both in improvisations (unending streams of sounds), and in the rhythm section music (Henderson 1992). It ought to be remembered that even the bass plays a melody which is built in a certain logical way. Thus, the bass player should also use phrasing, emphasise logical beginnings of phrases, play repeating motifs in similar way, e.g. putting accents and clipped sounds in the same places, etc. The issue of the lack of appropriate phrasing concerns especially guitarists and piano players. They do not have to “take breaths,” so they play “too many notes (Davis 1990).

Motivic work is an enormous tool of improvisers; it has been described abundantly in literature on the subject of the structure of musical piece (Frączkiewicz & Skołyszewski 1988). This tool has been utilised success-fully on many levels for hundreds of years. Phrasing is closely connected with what an experienced improviser “hears in their head.” Sound which will occur in a moment have been known earlier to the performer due to a certain consistent conducting of the phrase. Motifs and phrases are characterized, among all, by characteristic rhythm and shape: a phrase can increase and decrease, or stay on a specific sound (Henderson 1992).

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433 What is important for phrases is the distinction points (the highest and the lowest sounds in a phrase). They are frequently connected with the harmony of a piece. Next to excess of sounds, a common mistake lies in the lack of, or in the intrusive circular repetition of a few motifs, which leads to the schematicity of improvisation.

14. Form regulates the course and development of improvisation with the aid

of musical means. An improvisation frequently increases to a climax with the aid of certain contrasts. For example, at the beginning one plays in the lower registers of the instrument, using longer, individual sounds, less complex scales (e.g. pentatonics), then slowly increasing the tension. This can be done in various ways, e.g. by gradually turning the volume up, and then increasing the register of the instrument (or the other way round). The whole logic of the improvisation’s “increasing” is precisely its form. A common mistake is practising an improvisation to a looped backtrack, without it increasing, instead of enclosing it in logical frames (the correct way to do it is to practise an improvisation from beginning until the end, and then from the beginning again).

15. Interpretation of the piece (or of improvisation) - consists in such

a choice of musical means that an improvisation forms as coherent a whole as possible. Musicians can utilise e.g. such specific phrasing, such motivic tools, they can build the form (increase) in such a way, utilise such - and not different - scales, use such modifications of harmony, etc. Interpretation is an idea for improvisation for a specific piece, the pres-ence of a concept transcending the chaos. It is said that music likes order on every level.

In practice, it is very difficult to achieve mastery in using all those elements at the same time. In principle, it is impossible above a certain level. One can de-vote one’s entire life to self-development in the field of rhythm, and a similar thing can be said about a majority of these elements. However, masters of improvisation are characterized by having learned all the elements to some degree. It is, in a way, looking for a golden mean. Allan Holdsworth is a true master of improvisation. Yet, he utilises a rather narrow dynamic spectrum, which is, however, a very specific spectrum. There is no possibility of random dynamics, there is no chaos within this music. The musician knows precisely what he is doing and he does it well (although it is difficult to say that he is a master of dynamic shading).

Each of these elements is in a practical way connected to a certain kind of hearing and a level of musical sensitivity. Thus, we can talk about rhythmic hearing (not only following the rhythms, but also hearing the “synchro”), harmonic hearing (following the changes in harmony and dominant tensions, recognizing progressions, suspensions and other harmonic structures),

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melod-434

ic hearing (recognizing scales and modes), polyphonic hearing (following sev-eral melody paths at once and the ability to reproduce them in the sense of e.g. rhythm and melody of each path, but also recognizing intervals), musi-cians often talk also about important details, which I identify with hearing that follows the nuances of dynamics (that is, the ability to tell whether a se-ries of sounds is performed at the same loudness, e.g. indicating louder notes in a series of eights) and nuances of articulation, structure of the form and the quality of interpretation. Hearing deficiencies are typical for the performers of popular music, and they are frequently equalized in the recording studio with the help of appropriate equipment or computer programs. A singer’s intonation (singing off key) can be equalized with the use of VST plug-in, sounds that miss the time can be shifted to the right places (a musician fre-quently does not hear that he/she lacks “synchro”), and sounds played in ir-regular dynamics (lack of sensitivity to dynamics and to the instrument’s at-tack) are brought to a single level of loudness with the use of compressors. Usually, it is songs known from commercial radio stations that undergo such a cycle of editions (compress dynamics, quantizing rhythm, tuning the intona-tion of the vocal). The songs are “smooth,” but, in a way, artificial. We arrive at the conclusion that it is difficult to play well even the simplest

instru-mental part (Metheny 2011).

General notions of improvisation

The elements of music constitute a kind of a detailed outlook at the issues of improvisation; we are now going to talk a little about more general notions that cannot be subject to such detailed analyses.

Interactions between band members constitute a separate problem. The no-tion of the scope of improvisano-tion might be debatable. Sometimes the whole band improvises, but even then something is decided upon, e.g., a common beginning. Sometimes it is the form of a piece, and an improviser has at their disposal e.g. a specific number of measures, sometimes the number of its rep-etitions is decided upon (depending on the course of improvisation). If there is one improvising soloist, the band usually follows them, which is connected with various elements of music: dynamics, rhythm, and form of the soloist, and sometimes with the re-harmonisation of the improviser (Davis 1990). Another problem is conveying emotions by the means of music. This is a ra-ther subjective issue; ra-there are no masters who have a good grip on the ele-ments of music, whose music would not move the audience. This is how J.S. Bach used to be talked about: his music disappeared from parlours for a hun-dred years to come back in glory (Schweitzer 1963); today Allan Holdsworth’s music is described in such a way. It is not music for everyone, but it will get to a sensitive, experienced listener. Such a kind of “advanced” music will

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proba-435 bly not be enjoyable with the first listen, it reaches one with time. As Schweit-zer (1963) claims, the case is similar with some of Bach’s pieces.

A more frequent phenomenon connected with conveying emotions are work-shop deficiencies when it comes to the elements of music (e.g. uneven playing, lack of tensions, inappropriate phrasing, lack of motivic work, etc.), or using very poor means (e.g. articulative ones), capable of spoiling even the most beautiful sounds, which become, in a way, stripped of their beauty due to the performer’s sloppiness.

However, emotions are not everything. If someone works on generally under-stood elements of music, if they are inquisitive, patient and do so for a long time, they will most likely without many obstacles achieve the stage where conveying emotions is not a problem. The music of such a performer will move the audience in a particular way. There is, however, something much more difficult, which is an unclimbable wall for many musicians.

Miles Davis writes about it emphatically in his biography “Music is about style” (Davis 1990): one’s own, characteristic, unique, personal style. A set of factors that allow the audience to identify records of a musician whose style they are familiar with, even if they hear a new piece by this musician, after just a few sounds. A style which is “measured” with the number and the achievements of its imitators. This is a rather large problem, especially in the times of the mass exchange of information. One of the many common but un-true opinions is that “in contemporary world everything has already been played.” There are many musicians, but, at the same time, there are few who have something interesting to say in music while having appropriate abilities (Metheny 2011).

Famous musicians refer to this problem when answering the question “what advice would you give to young artists?”. One can devote their entire lives to the analysis of achievements of favourite performers and to practising tech-nical etudes from notes, but this is not what it is all about. In his article enti-tled “How To Not Sound Like Anybody Else (More or Less)... in 3 to 5 Misera-bly Painful Years,” Wayne Krantz (2010) writes “I went through this with Pat Metheny in 1980. No, he didn’t sound like me; I sounded like him. When I real-ized I wasn’t satisfied with that, I stopped listening to him altogether.” An even harsher tone can be found in Miles Davis’ autobiography (1990).

There are two examples of musical improvisation:

http://fulara.com/temp/artykul/earth_song_-_1_take.mp3 (improvisation with theme)

http://fulara.com/temp/artykul/earth_song_-_2_take.mp3 (improvisation without theme)

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436

Part II. Counterpoint improvisation as a tool for shaping one’s own style of music

Artist’s style

For me, music and life are all about style

[Miles Davis] I have written two articles about artist’s style in the Polish press. They include my ideas on how to think and work with music, how to be more creative, how to look for one’s own voice in music. These ideas do not come from specula-tions, but from an inner, spiritual need to be different from the rest of the music world. Most musicians lack this inner need. They “synthesize” styles, progressions, licks, and sound in part like one artist, in part like another. This does not yield results if we consider music to be an art form. It can result in what I call “small ‘s’-style” but not “capital ‘S’-Style”. These musicians are more imitators than artists even if they „compose” syntheses of different kinds of music. “Style” can be imitated by other musicians, because it has trademarks. Imitators have to have something to copy, so there are certain trademarks, characteristics, which are the best descriptions of that Style. Hav-ing more imitators means havHav-ing a better defined style.

As a listener, I look for musicians with distinct individual characteristics. I prefer Allan Holdsworth's music, which is not easy to listen to, to safe-blues typical playing then. There are emotions in the playing of blues musicians, but usually only very few of them have the Style.

A distinct style does not preclude beauty, or make music difficult to listen to. Among the best examples there are J.S. Bach, Chopin, Beethoven, Mozart, but also Davis, Parker, Coltrane, Pass and Metheny. The music of these artists is not a “fusion” of other artists’ music; it was developed as an expression of their individual voices. Obviously, previous music always influenced the art-ists, but this influence is not the only creative force in their playing. Their ide-as are much more advanced than only “copying” other artists. Commercial musicians often do not have their own Style. However, not all music has to constitute art in this sense.

We cannot treat „Style” as some kind of a mathematical calculation or equa-tion. There is no simple description of what the Style is. There are too many factors to describe when talking about style: timbre, note choice, the concep-tion of music, harmony, even words in songs, and the clothes worn by the artists etc. Everything is important. Music serves many different purposes, and the performers have different needs and sensitivities. But this article is not about Style. In the next part I write about my own struggles in looking for my own voice in improvisation.

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437 For me having Style is the key issue in music. I divide musicians into the ones who have their Style - the original performers, and those who do not - the de-rivative ones. The second group consists of the “imitators,” who mix styles of different artists that they are influenced or inspired by. There is nothing wrong with being inspired by someone else. However, it becomes a big prob-lem if it is the only way of improving one’s playing. An opposite point of view enforces a certain natural way of seeking one’s own personality. It is not a calculation as much as the issue of comprehending music at a level of con-scious shaping one’s own needs, which arrives with age and experience. As Glenn Gould said,: „If somebody has nothing new to say when playing the tune, he shouldn't play it live, and he certainly shouldn't record it” (Hafner 2009).

Copying different styles does not have value for art unless such a “copy” has a deeper conception. Young musicians often make the mistake of believing in these compositions based on the music of their idols. However, copying may do more harm than good (Krantz 2010). It is not easy to have high skill in mu-sic in that sense (Metheny 2011). Copying is safe, and sometimes it is enough in some kinds of popular music. Thus, we have many artists with no style, who play for big audiences and record CDs.

Moreover, labels often require the musicians to play in a certain style. If you want to write a pop hit, you should not think about expressing your individual voice because the label will not agree to produce such a record for fear of los-ing money (Marsalis 2011).

I started playing the guitar in the 1990s by copying my idols, such as AC/DC, Iron Maiden etc. After a few years I realized that composing music that would resemble AC/DC has no artistic value. There were thousands of such deriva-tive bands. It was not my music, although these were my compositions. Fur-thermore, my idols did not copy their own idols (although they were a source of inspiration). They created something new, fresh, valuable. It was not about “playing like Iron Maiden”, but about creating fresh music as they used to do. It is about a kind of a prism which is not for light – but for sound. It creates our own version of musical pieces even if they are not our compositions. This is the most valuable thing in music for me. It is extremely difficult to achieve musical personality. If you are working on the inner music voice, you are alone. Listeners prefer easy music based on common popular patterns. J. S. Bach found this out the hard way: even his sons – musicians themselves - were not able to appreciate his genius (Schweitzer 1963). However, composers of that kind did not overtly chase popularity. They knew that the quality and beauty of music does not depend on the popularity it enjoys.

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438

Counterpoint texture and its possibilities. “The magic of intervals”

I have enjoyed counterpoint since I was a child. The intricate melodic lines create something that I used to call the “magic of intervals”. When I studied at 1st level of music school, J. S. Bach used to be my favourite composer. Even the most beautiful songs did not have the same magic as that can be found in a simple Bach composition interweaving two melodic lines. The counterpoint was the main reason I started to play the guitar using the two-handed tapping technique, and worked out a portato articulation method for tapping. The portato method makes two tapping lines clearer (Fulara 2002).

One might debate over what the counterpoint texture is, and what it is not. Nobody who ever had anything to do with Bach’s fugues will have any doubt in that matter. It concerns equal treatment of two melodic lines. This is a bet-ter word than “independent,” because there are dependencies between the lines. For example, they are strictly connected rhythmically. We have two different rhythms, but both are based on the same rhythmic motifs. Moreover, both lines rely on the same harmony. Finally, the lines are dependent on hori-zontal and vertical counterpoint rules and genres (Sikorski 1955). However, the lines are also independent, as each of them can be the master line.

For my considerations, the fundamental notion in counterpoint is the “magic of intervals,” resulting from two melodies played together. Already in the Ba-roque, J. S. Bach was famous for his counterpoint improvisation skills. He based his virtuosity on the fugue form. He was able to improvise for an hour on a simple melodic theme (Schweitzer 1963). Witnesses of his performances claimed that scores were only a small part of his wonderful music.

Improvisers rarely use counterpoint textures. The main reason is that most of creators utilising advanced improvisation concepts, for example, Charlie Par-ker, Dizzie Gilespie, Miles Davis, play homophonic instruments like trumpet or a saxophone. Counterpoint possibilities are available for those playing pi-ano or keyboard and guitar - but with this instrument it is very complicated. You can use fingerstyle, or classical technique to play guitar counterpoint. Only a few guitar players reached a high level of musicianship playing it. Ted Greene (1996), Steve Herbermann (2002) and Jimi Wyble (2001), author of a counterpoint guitar textbook, were the best. All of them based their improvi-sations on jazz harmony. Motivic work is not that important then. Ted Greene developed the most interesting ideas by joining jazz harmony with classical I-IV-V progressions. There is a video on the Internet in which Greene demon-strates the possibilities of this kind of texture (1996).

Some piano players use counterpoint for improvisations as well, among oth-ers, Brad Mehldau, Lennie Tristano or Keith Jarrett. Some bands use it in group improvisations. It is a kind of a trademark of Mulligan's Quartet. You can also find it in Jim Hall’s, Kurt Rosenwinkel’s or Dave Holland’s recordings,

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439 as well as those of many others. Another, less independent kind of counter-point could be heard in pieces from the Dixieland period.

There is no one correct way to play counterpoint in improvisation. When the whole band plays, one musician has to guess what another wants to play in order to play the right note together. Harmony and the same length of notes (for example, sixteens) are the usual common denominators.

When one musician is playing counterpoint, they have control over every melodic line. Thus, they have the ability to play e.g. a form similar to fugue (one example is Brad Mehldau).

When we first start to play counterpoint, we discover that simple melodic tools do not work. If you play sounds in any particular scale, even using deep phrasing and articulation, you will not achieve musical results. Counterpoint lines are more bare and harmony-sensitive than any kind of a monophonic improvisation. When you play usual single line improvisation, it is much easi-er to play the wrong (dissonant) note and treat it as suspension of melody. Each wrong note is a mistake for the listener (Schweitzer 1963).

In theory, harmony and counterpoint oppose each other, but in practice,

counterpoint is a way of carrying out harmony, and harmony is the build-ing material for counterpoint. However, counterpoint and harmony oppose

each other when a musician is practicing.

Guide Tones

In the field of jazz improvisations there exists the notion of guide tones (GT). Thirds and sevenths are the most important chord tones. For each root you can build a natural major 7th chord, a minor 7th chord, a dominant 7th chord and a half diminished chord (which is a minor 7th chord with diminished 5th and it is treated like a minor 7th chord, because it has the same guide tones).

Guide tones for chords based on the C note

Chord Third (GT) Seventh (GT) Root Fifth

Cmaj7 E (Major 3th) B (Major 7th) C G

Cm7 Eb (Minor 3th) Bb (Minor 7th) C G

C7 E (Major 3th) Bb (Minor 7th) C G

If we play neither the 3rd nor the 7th of the chord, we are unable to tell what kind of a chord that is. Playing guide tones on the harmonic instrument is usually the main way of playing harmony, while the bass plays the root.

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440

The next step may be looking for the best guide tones connections using inver-sions. For a typical II V I progression the components are as follows:

Guide tones for II V I progression in C major mode

Joining the guide tones in the shortest ways we have the following paths: Path 1 (from the third): F | F | E (bolded font)

Path 2 (from the seventh): C | B | B (italicised bolded font)

This rule is well known and used in teaching jazz improvisation. It is also a popular tool for composers. The main melody of “Autumn Leaves” is based on the GT path.

Guide lines

But what does it mean to “base melody on the path”? Each phrase has an im-portant note called the melodic accent. Depending on the context, this could be:

 a note in a strong beat position

 the beginning and the end of the phrase

 the highest and the lowest note

 the loudest note, the most accented note

 the longest note

 a repeated note

Frequently, a number of these factors happen at the same time and on the same note. For example, the longest note is the first in measure on strong beat position. It is not important according to what criterion you distinguish the “most important” note. When you listen to recordings of improvisations, you can hear without problems the most important notes one after another. A typical mistake of young improvisers is repeating the important notes throughout the improvisation. Usually it is the root of the tune, sometimes it is another note, for example from pentatonic minor scale. This immediately suggests that the improviser follows simplifications, and evidences their

defi-Chord Dm7 G7 Cmaj7

Third F B E

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441 ciencies in hearing and technique. In other words, if you listen to improvisa-tions, you can easily say for whom these sounds are important, and for whom they are not.

You can also write down these important melodic notes and analyze what happens with the line. When you do it with “Autumn Leaves,” you write down the longest notes of the melody in the strong beat position, and then you reach GT line.

You can reverse the process, too. This is used to learn jazz improvisations based on GT lines. Then, you avoid playing obvious roots when chords change. In most cases, the GT path goes down together with the sounds or stays on the same level. It rarely increases rapidly, and when it does, it is most frequently between particular parts or progressions.

Using this method you can write down a melody, usually consisting of whole notes. It can be treated as the so-called Cantus Firmus (C.F. line). It is a base melody which is first line of counterpoint. Then, using the counterpoint rules, you can write another line related to the C.F. line. This is called the first

spe-cies of counterpoint. (Sikorski 1955; Kennan 1969; Gawlas 1979). A similar

method was used already in the Renaissance period (Feicht 1957).

Many of the rules connected to the first species of counterpoint can be used directly to create improvisations. Other rules can be omitted or modified by taking into account bebop harmony rules. For example, the rule “if one part jumps, another goes down a 2nd interval in contrary motion” works almost everywhere. Another rule, that is treating fourths as dissonant, does not work, because guide tones for a major 7th chord create a fourth between them (see the table for Cmaj7, and Cm7 chords).

I also allow for a possible consonance of seconds and sevenths, because they are natural for all 7th chords. For example, for Am7 chord the 7th A-G as well as the second G-A are allowed. In my opinion in any kind of improvisation everything that sounds good is allowed and desirable. The point is to have rules, but not too many.

I conducted experiments in order to determine what sounds good, and what does not. I used J. S Bach’s pieces as well as jazz standards in the process. I analysed important notes in famous melodies in the context of harmony. In particular, I studied intervals between melody lines and G.T. lines. I have studied almost 100 songs and jazz standards this way. My conclusions were quite surprising. Whole note lines from important melody notes always sound good together with GT lines. The only problem occurred when melody lines were created using G. T. lines (as in “Autumn Leaves”), but I used the second G.T. line then. Obviously, if you do not want to use the original whole note from important melody notes line, you can write down your own line, using counterpoint rules. The point is that you will have two whole notes lines

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